The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Begonia plant, botanically known as Begonia×tuberhybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Sunjirapi’.
The new Begonia plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Narusawa-mura, Minamituru-gun, Yamanashi, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact and freely branching Begonia plants with a mounding plant habit and attractive leaf and flower coloration.
The new Begonia plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Narusawa-mura, Minamituru-gun, Yamanashi, Japan in May, 2005 of a proprietary selection of Begonia×tuberhybrida identified as code number FC02Rp3804Rp31-1, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Begonia×tuberhybrida identified as code number FC02Rp3404Ro31-2, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Begonia plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Narusawa-mura, Minamituru-gun, Yamanashi, Japan in July, 2006.
Asexual reproduction of the new Begonia plant by cuttings taken in a controlled greenhouse environment in Narusawa-mura, Minamituru-gun, Yamanashi, Japan since October, 2006 has shown that the unique features of this new Begonia plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.